Eagles roster news: Britain Covey among 3 moves to injured reserve

The Philadelphia Eagles officially announced three roster changes on Tuesday afternoon. An overview:

• WR Britain Covey was placed on the injured list.
• TE Jack Stoll was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster.
• WR John Ross was signed to the practice squad.

Let's go through this news player by player.

Great Britain Covey

As mentioned on MondayCovey reportedly suffered a broken bone in his shoulder during the Eagles' win over the New Orleans Saints and wore a sling over his arm after the game.

By being placed on the injured list, Covey is automatically ineligible to play in the Eagles' next four games. Covey has reportedly told Merrill Reese that he will be out for at least six weeks. Assuming that timeline holds true, we may not see Covey until the Eagles play the Dallas Cowboys in Week 10. The silver lining to Covey's absence during this stretch is that the Eagles have a bye in Week 5.

With Covey out, Cooper DeJean is expected to step in as the Eagles' punt returner. DeJean averaged 13.1 yards per return at Iowa, so there's reason to believe he could be a weapon in that role. Of course, it's also possible he's not as good as Covey, who is arguably the best punt returner in the NFL.

Covey's absence also impacts the Eagles' wide receiver depth. AJ Brown hasn't played in Philly's last two games and it's unclear if he'll be ready to play in Week 4. DeVonta Smith must pass the NFL's concussion protocol before he can return. If the Eagles don't have either of them available, the team is left with just Jahan Dotson and Johnny Wilson as receivers on the active roster. They also have some practice squad options; more on that later.

JACK STOLL

It's been quite interesting how the Eagles have handled Stoll since they re-signed him to the practice squad following his release from the New York Giants.

The Eagles temporarily promoted EJ Jenkins from the practice squad to the third tight end for the Week 1 game. They then released Stoll, only to re-sign him the next day. Then Jenkins was promoted again for the Eagles' second game.

But it was Stoll who the Eagles temporarily upgraded for their Week 3 game against the Saints, and now he's back on the roster as the third tight end.

Or maybe as a second tight end again? Grant Calcaterra is the better pass-catching option, but he struggled as a blocker in New Orleans, and that's an area where Stoll has had success. Perhaps more of a split of playing time as a backup tight end behind Dallas Goedert.

JOHN ROSS

Ross came out of retirement in May to audition for the Eagles during their rookie minicamp. The team then signed him to their roster and Ross tried to compete for the third wide receiver job. He flashed a little but then got injured in the second preseason game. Ross ultimately didn't do enough to justify the Eagles keeping him on the team.

Now that the Eagles are dealing with several injured wide receivers, they have decided to bring Ross back into the fold. It certainly doesn't hurt that he is familiar with their offense.

Ross joins an Eagles practice squad that already includes four other receivers: Parris Campbell, Danny Gray, Kyle Philips and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint. The Eagles have elected to temporarily carry Campbell for each of their final two games. They could opt for another carry position — or maybe two — depending on whether they have Brown and/or Smith available for this week's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.